In the early 2000s, Major League Baseball star Sammy Sosa was one of the top sluggers in the league and one of the most iconic and recognizable athletes in the world. But now, he’s barely recognizable to most baseball fans.
This week, a recent photo of Sammy Sosa has gone absolutely viral, showing Sosa with a much lighter skin complexion than when he was playing for the Chicago Cubs or the Baltimore Orioles.
“Crazy that this is Sammy Sosa,” Baseball History Nut said in a tweet.
Crazy that this is Sammy Sosa pic.twitter.com/S7tKo1rerI
— BaseballHistoryNut (@nut_history) July 30, 2023
Sosa has had a lighter skin tone for well over a decade now, revealing in 2009 that it’s due to a cream that he applies to his skin that bleaches his skin tone.
“It’s a bleaching cream that I apply before going to bed and whitens my skin tone,” Sosa told Univision’s Primer Impacto show in 2009. “It’s a cream that I have that I use to soften [my skin], but has bleached me some. I’m not a racist, I live my life happily.
“What happened was that I had been using the cream for a long time and that, combined with the bright TV lights, made my face look whiter than it really is. I don’t think I look like Michael Jackson.”
Still, his new appearance caught many fans off guard.
Same guy pic.twitter.com/9NauMw4Vqf
— Eric (@proptologydept) July 30, 2023
I have questions….but I know the answers. They arent pretty https://t.co/BLh563ltmc
— Shine the Prof (@ProfessorShine) July 30, 2023
My oh my. https://t.co/62N42oOZuC
— jcarrington (@jcarrington) July 31, 2023
I really thought this was just a random white dude and funny headline for a sec https://t.co/SQNOHMPMDr
— VerboseBullyFellaBear (@BullyBear3) July 31, 2023
Colorism and self hate is wild https://t.co/6FxhGSqftZ
— Syd. JT (@SJT____) July 31, 2023
Imagine the amount of trauma he must have endured to end up hating his own skin. https://t.co/GHQiiPdvQL
— bröñxítę (@b0ywonder_) July 31, 2023
Bleached Sammy Sosa looks like the love child between George Santos and Michael Cera https://t.co/YnxyUvLZIe
— Bobby, No Althoff (@JBob_15) July 31, 2023
This looks like a still from What We Do in the Shadows https://t.co/iIIvs98q8S
— Tom Bragg (@TomBraggSports) July 30, 2023
It seems a lot has changed since he retired from baseball.
